Early the next morning, within the clan grounds of Konoha's prestigious Hyuga Clan.
The Hyuga Clan's head, Hiashi, walked out of his room, intending to get some fresh air in the courtyard, when he found his younger brother standing there in a daze, oblivious to his clothes being soaked with dew.
"Hizashi, you came to see me?"
Hizashi looked up, hesitated for a moment, then asked: "Elder Brother, did you hear any unusual noises last night?"
Hiashi was taken aback, then asked: "Are you referring to the explosion from East Tenth Street?"
Hizashi nodded: "Yes."
"Of course I heard it. I was worried about an enemy invasion and hurried to investigate. But I was told the area was temporarily sealed off, and the information couldn't be leaked. That's when I knew it wasn't an external force, it was most likely some internal turmoil within Konoha."
Hiashi said, shaking his head: "A prominent clan like ours must never get involved in such political whirlpools, so I came back quickly."
Seeing the strange look on Hizashi's face, Hiashi couldn't help but ask: "What happened yesterday shouldn't be related to you, right?"
Hizashi hesitated, then shook his head: "It's nothing. It's just that yesterday, when I was leading my student team, I learned from their information forms that one of the students lives there."
Hearing this, Hiashi chuckled: "It's only been one day. Since when did I not know you were so sentimental?"
After Hiashi left, Hizashi sighed deeply with a bitter expression.
He was indeed worried and confused. Last night, he couldn't resist using his Byakugan to investigate the situation.
The Byakugan's visual range is one kilometer. He happened to see some things he shouldn't have.
For example, the scene of Setsuna brutally killing Danzo right in front of the Hokage. It scared him so much he closed his eyes on the spot, wishing he could slap himself, regretting himself for using the Byakugan recklessly.
He tossed and turned all night, worried that Anbu's members would raid and investigate him, interrogating him about whether he was involved in last night's disturbance.
But he stayed up all night and didn't wait for Anbu's arrest. This puzzled him.
'Could it be that Hokage-sama saw things clearly and knew he was unrelated?'
'Sigh, indeed, the less one knows, the happier one is.' Hizashi sighed long and hard.
Just then, a masked Ninja suddenly appeared, speaking in an emotionless tone: "Hyuga Hizashi, Elder Danzo requests your presence."
"What did you say? Elder Danzo?" Hizashi asked in terror.
The masked Ninja frowned slightly, 'With this kind of psychological quality, he's fit to be a Jonin? As expected of a privileged member of a prominent clan.'
His voice was cold: "Do you wish to disobey orders?"
"No, not at all." Hizashi shook his head. Although his mind was a tangled mess of thoughts, he decided to go with the other first, 'Perhaps Hokage-sama issued the order under Elder Danzo's name to avoid panic.'
Soon, Hizashi met Danzo in a dark room.
'It really is Elder Danzo! What's going on?' Hizashi's heart was in turmoil, 'Were what I saw yesterday just illusions?'
Danzo's expression was serious: "Hizashi, I have a mission for you to carry out."
Hizashi suppressed his doubts and said respectfully: "Please instruct me, Danzo-sama."
Danzo tapped his fingers on the desk and spoke slowly: "An accident occurred yesterday in the East Tenth Street area. The street was destroyed and needs repairs. Although this task isn't particularly arduous, it will take considerable time. The village has decided to assign this task to your new team to complete."
Hizashi was bewildered, 'He called me here early in the morning just for this?'
Seeing the confusion in Hizashi's eyes, Danzo added: "Although this mission is only a D-Rank joint task, considering the funds required for the repairs, the village has allocated 800,000 ryo as the mission reward. Do not slack off."
The corner of Danzo's mouth turned up slightly, quite pleased with himself.
In a sense, this was his silent protest.
Setsuna made him pay for the street repairs, so he designated the new team to take the mission, making Setsuna repair it himself. Moreover, Danzo was very confident because he was paying for this mission out of his own pocket. The reward was extremely generous, and the task was very simple. It was essentially a D-Rank mission difficulty with an A-Rank mission reward. Any team would consider it a highly sought-after mission.
Although 800,000 ryo was also painful for him, it was worth it if he could vent a little of his dissatisfaction.
'Even if that brat comes to cause trouble for me, I can say I'm using this method to compensate him.' Danzo thought quite smugly, never expecting that the Hizashi before him was utterly shocked.
'Could the Elder Danzo before me be a puppet created by Hokage-sama using some method? Using this excuse to funnel money to Setsuna? Or is he paving the way for Asuma? Were the scenes I saw last night actually part of the Hokage-sama's plan?' Hizashi broke out in a cold sweat, feeling he might have glimpsed Konoha's dark side.
Under normal circumstances, D-Rank mission rewards range from 5,000 to 50,000 ryo, while A-Rank mission rewards range from 150,000 to 1,000,000 ryo. An 800,000 ryo reward is considered very high even among A-Rank missions.
Instead of keeping such a good mission for his own people, Danzo assigned it to the fresh graduates from Academy who are closer to the Hokage. Moreover, the always deep-minded and stern Danzo showed an inexplicable smile. Doesn't this seem very problematic no matter how you look at it?
'Mustn't think too much. I know nothing.' Cold sweat seeped from Hizashi's back. He forced himself to calm down. He had no interaction with Danzo, so there was no need to put himself and his clan in danger to expose the darkness.
Seeing that Hizashi didn't reply, Danzo frowned slightly: "Hizashi, do you have any objections?"
Hizashi jolted awake and quickly said: "No objections. I will definitely complete the mission."
Danzo nodded: "Good. You may go carry out the order now."
Hizashi walked out of the basement, sighing inwardly, 'I had heard that Danzo was called the Darkness of the Ninja World, a powerful figure even feared by the Kage of other villages. But in the end, he was played like a fiddle by Hokage-sama.'
He couldn't help but sigh with emotion inwardly: 'As expected of the Third Hokage-sama, who turned the tide at the village's most critical moment and led the village to victory in two Great Ninja Wars. Elder Danzo's level is far below that of the Hokage-sama.'
…
Meanwhile, in Konoha's Mission Assignment Hall, Setsuna and his two teammates gathered there.
Guy rubbed his chin in confusion: "Didn't Hizashi-sensei say to gather at the Mission Hall at 8 a.m.? Or did he mean 8 p.m.?"
"Where would there be missions at 8 p.m.?" Setsuna shook his head slightly, "He must have been delayed by something."
He didn't think of Danzo in this context. Danzo was fierce in appearance but cowardly at heart, fond of scheming but indecisive. He probably didn't have the courage to provoke him again in the short term.
Shizune took a scroll from her waist pouch and handed it to Setsuna: "Senpai, Tsunade-sama asked me to bring this to you. But it cannot be shared. I need to take it back after you memorize it."
"Mm, that's reasonable." Setsuna nodded. The Yin Seal was an S-Rank secret Ninjutsu. The impact of it leaking would be significant.
Anyway, with his memory, memorizing the contents of the scroll wouldn't be too difficult.